


A Good Son

by myeve123



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-23 17:55:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/929400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myeve123/pseuds/myeve123
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AR Ending for Nibelheim Incident. After Hojo fished him out from Nibelheim Mako Reactor, Sephiroth sets about cleaning up the mess. Preferably before the chemical imbalance in his brain drowns him for good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Villain Big Bang challenge 2013. Thank you to my beta ChaosAngel4us and SinsofMidnight for the excellent service. Many thanks to anassa_anemou for the lovely arts and u_evangeline for the insightful mix.
> 
>  
> 
> [](http://s1352.photobucket.com/user/anassa_anemou/media/villan%20bb/cf2_zps67dc444a.jpg.html)  
> 

Too bright.

A piercing cry jolted him and he subconsciously reached for his swords. The world swam into brilliant white and Sephiroth took a sharp breath. Frozen air filled his lungs and dulled the metallic tang in his mouth. Several black birds perched on a branch above him and cried out again.

He loosened the grip to his swords. Just some crows. He shut his eyes and waited for everything to stop spinning. Behind his eyelids the mirage faded into the light.

There was a woman with long hair, her eyes closed, and her hands clasped above her heart. She whispered something like a song, but the ringing in his ears drowned out her words. What spell was this? He gasped as stubborn warmth slowly dug its way into his chest, snagging at a treasure long forgotten.

 _Mother_?

Sephiroth opened his eyes to the empty branches of a dark brown tree that marred the white expanse of sky. It was still early in the morning; snow covered rows of tombstones and a bare tombstone was within his reach. He shook his head. Delirious.

It couldn't be his mother. She had passed out in front of Shinra's lab at Nibelheim before going into labor. They had to perform experimental procedures on her to save the baby and she died immediately after giving birth. They never learned her name; he didn't have a picture of her.

She was gone, and no amount of wishful thinking would bring her back.

Long time ago before he was wise enough to keep his emotions locked, they told him about this and showed him this grave. They didn’t allow him any kind of weakness though, so he didn’t visit again after that. He made the five minutes trip here the night he finished reading the research notes at Shinra Mansion. He couldn’t remember exactly what he said; his head was too hot with rage. But he remembered vowing for her revenge and he could never forget the moment Jenova took control.

 _You want to know who is responsible for this?_ Jenova's laugh had hurt his ears. The observation chamber of the cloning facility was packed by those who answered her call. The clones' eyes were all lit, their identical grins made him struggle even more. The mothers stood transfixed, blank look on their faces. Outside the lab, Nibelheim burned. _Your father, Hojo, did this. You are his masterpiece, and he wants you to be-_ her tone lilted in delight _, mass produced_.

If Hojo was really his father, then they must know his mother’s identity. She was probably one of Hojo’s experiment subjects, but why would Hojo get involved with a subject? Sephiroth reached for the tombstone. Its rough surface ground him back to the quiet morning and his... let's just say, monthly progress report.

 _I've relieved the clones' mothers from their misery_. No one had come to help her back then. Icy wind caressed the forgotten graves and his clenched hand only yielded some snow. _Are you now at peace?_

Like always, the unmarked grave stood silent at his questions. No matter. Just one more place to go and then he could conclude this project and bid his goodbye. He rubbed the dull ache between his eyes.

Or was it a hello?

A snort bubbled up his throat.

You're going straight to hell. There is no way you will be able to see her, ever.

Sephiroth swallowed past the lump in his chest. Enough of this. He picked himself up and sheathed his swords. Yu would cross this mountain at noon, he needed to prepare before the man arrived.

The guns pressed against his hips and he grimaced. He would never get used to it, but well... necessity, necessity. Sephiroth tightened his jacket; the thick leather on the long sleeve didn't stop the wind from biting into his skin. Anymore layer of clothes and it would hinder his movements. He sighed. Maybe Fate liked to watch him traipsing along half frozen to death.

A sound of vehicle coming snapped him out of it. Sephiroth stepped back and peered at the source of the sound from behind the tree.

There were two workers driving the container, two SOLDIER 2nd class driving the jeep, three grunts on the back of it, a driver on the limousine and- he raised his eyebrows. A concubine slash bodyguard?

Mixing business with pleasure, Lin Yu?

He shook his head and took out the guns. The container breezed the hill, straight into his range.

Two gunshots.

The container swerved and hit the nearby tree. The jeep rattled into an abrupt stop and the grunts jumped from the back. Sephiroth did _not_ roll his eyes.

Who trained these people?

Three gunshots.

One of the SOLDIER guards shot back, but Sephiroth had dashed onto the next boulder. The limousine jerked to avoid collision with the jeep; the tires screeched for escape.

One gunshot.

The other SOLDIER slipped out of the jeep with a sword in his hand.

 _Aw_... Sephiroth gripped his gun and aimed at the limousine’s tires. Two gunshots and the limousine skidded to a halt. He shoved his left gun in its holster and drew his sword from its back sheath just in time to block a slash to his head. He bent and swept the man's feet with a back roundhouse kick and fired his gun. The limousine's front glass shattered with red blots.

His sword sent the SOLDIER's sword flying and the man died before it clattered to the ground. He shoved his other gun in its holster and ducked the five Shurikens aiming for his head.

A chain zinged with electricity whipped past the back of his neck and nicked his hair band. He whirled and ran straight to the woman's defense. Yu's jian stopped him from gutting her, but he managed to land her a kick before falling into a merry dance with the man's sword.

Block, hit, block, thrust, block, parry. Duck.

He drew his other sword to swat the chain off his back which nicked part of his loose hair. The chain gripped on his sword and sharp currents ripped along his right arm. Sephiroth snarled. He yanked on the leash and rammed his sword into the woman's stomach.

Nobody, nobody touched his hair.

He snatched back his sword, blocked Yu's incoming hack, and kicked the man on the chest. Yu staggered and spat a mouthful of blood.

"General Sephiroth. Back from the dead, I see. To what do I owe you the pleasure?"

Sephiroth just sheathed his right sword and stalked forward. Lin Yu narrowed his eyes. Let him squirm; he wasn't done yet.

"Very well." Yu's jian sang as the man engaged his sword.

Sephiroth pushed the jian to give space and Yu yielded only to push back into his space. The man still favored a close range fight. Had he had Masamune with him, he'd have an interesting change of pace in the dance. Sephiroth ducked and slashed the man's side. Then again, if he had Masamune with him, he wouldn't have to bring the guns to tear down the car convoy.

His head panged a bit and he pursed his lips.

Not now, Fate.

He withdrew his sword at the last second and shifted his footing, knocked Yu's jian, pinned the man on his elbow, and pressed hard. Yu's arm broke with a crack, and the man swayed with a garbled scream. Sephiroth held his blade to the man's throat, and leaned in to speak in his ear.

"You get to decide how long we will do this. I have all the time in the world." He sneered, digging the blade deeper. Yu choked and tried to pry on his hold. "But be assured that you will die."

The man's grip tightened. "What do you want?"

Not dying. A little respite. A warm embrace to go home to. World peace. In that order.

"Location of Shinra's cloning facilities."

Yu tensed on his arm.

"So it was you." The man barked a laugh. "The President is mad because the Turks couldn't find anything. Six sites in six months? That's impressive."

Of course. The mere suggestion that _he_ did a poor job by leaving evidences or witnesses behind was insulting. He tightened his hold as a warning.

"The locations, Yu."

Yu scowled and struggled but was unable to break free.

"Nibelheim, Gongaga, Junon, Rocket Town, and Bone Village. You've already leveled them all."

Sephiroth shifted and yanked on Yu's broken arm. The man spasmed and screamed.

"Try again."

He loosened his chokehold and let Yu gulp his few last breaths. Yu sagged and finally complied.

"North Corel."

The man could have left out some names, but he could always double check it with Yu's laptop later. His head growled in impatience, so he finished his business in one quick stride.

"Thank you."

He opened his phone, crossed Yu's name from his to do list, and added one more item in it. A searing pain torn his vision for a moment. Sephiroth closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

He couldn't bring back people he killed at Nibelheim five years ago. He couldn't pay nor console for their losses. He was beyond forgiveness already. Demolishing the labs responsible for birthing more monsters was the least he could do.

More monsters like you?

Sephiroth breathed through the sting in his eyes and snapped his phone close.

The guards swarmed around the facility: ten on the front, ten on the back, and another ten on the roof. It was a four story building with a dozen guards on each floor. Paranoid, possessive, overkill.

 _Does age not wise you up, Shinra_?

Sephiroth slipped inside the building and strode straight to the control room. The mainframe was just a door away from there. He punched in Yu's access code and closed the door behind him. Planting the bomb on the server only cost him a minute. He typed into the server’s console, activating the EVAC program.

The siren wailed through the halls. A red box popped up on the control room's computer screen.

 _Initiating self destruct_...

Sephiroth assessed the laboratory and experiment chambers. Loud hissing sounds emitted from the machines followed by small explosions. The scientists hurried to destroy their research notes. Good. He opened his phone, timed the bomb, and activated it. The backup data they gathered to the server wouldn't arrive to Shinra's headquarter mainframe.

He shrugged his pristine lab coat and adjusted his glasses before he walked out of the control room and followed the evacuation line. The subjects' ward was deserted when he arrived and the door locked shut. Sephiroth pulled out a sword from inside his lab coat and broke the lock with one sweep.

Familiar screams of agony welcomed him from the rooms.

"Make it stop." A hoarse voice from a woman near him. "Oh, goddess, please... somebody..."

Sephiroth gritted his teeth and silenced the screams with efficient strokes. Pain twisted and clawed its sharp talons inside his chest. By the time he opened the last room, pain cinched his lungs so hard he could hardly breathe.

A brunette with long hair stared at him, tears in her eyes.

"No." She wheezed and her body trembled. She shook her head. "Don't kill me."

He tightened the grip to his sword.

"Please." She choked as a seizure briefly gripped her. She bit her lip and couldn't help a strangled cry. But determination hardened her gaze when she looked back at him.

"You will suffer."

She snarled. "I'll be _alive_."

The watch on his hand beeped. Only five minutes left. He finally nodded and broke the restraints on her bed. She climbed to her feet, swayed a little, then straightened, hands clenched on her sides. Her voice was soft when she spoke.

"May the goddess gift you mercy."

He thinned his lips. A bit late for that. "Run."

She ran, and he strode to the next ward where they kept the clones and monsters. He had just broken the lock when someone called from somewhere behind him.

"Hey, you!"

Six guards; one of them gasped as the man recognized him.

"It's General Sephiroth!" They scrambled for their weapons. "He's here to burn down the building!"

A guard barked at the comm for backup. Several guards flooded the room with more backup on their way.

"Somebody stop the EVAC program."

Sephiroth smirked and pulled out his other sword.

Good luck with that.

The bullets ushered him outside the building and he stopped at the left wing atrium where the guards surrounded him from all gates.

Sephiroth deflected the bullets rained down on him and slashed at the guards. Someone had the gall to attack him with a sword. He blocked the hack to his head in time and arched his sword in quick succession. More guards joined the fight; he whirled and took the short opening to push the commotion further from the building.

The bomb would detonate soon; he didn’t have time for this. He swept his sword across the swarming guards and the grass quickly became red. Some of them shouted and the rest circled on him, blocking his exit. He could just see Fate's grin. Want to bet whether he could escape before the explosion? Sephiroth just sneered.

Fine. Bring it on.

When he had clear view of the sky again, the ground was an expanse of red. His head throbbed and he tightened the grip on his swords. He checked his watch; one minute left to leave the complex. A lightning pain zapped on his skin. The world tilted, heavy, and he shook his head.

Not now.

Sephiroth jumped the fence and ran to the exit gate. Not far enough-

He dropped to his knees near the infirmary. Twin mixers switched on and scrambled his brain. Sephiroth ground his teeth against the agony; the pain kicked him into a ball, writhing and shaking.

 _Get up_. He choked down his scream. _The bomb will explode_.

Red, fire, heat, metallic tang, not enough air-

He pushed himself up on trembling hands, and a new wave of pain shoved him down again.

Guess Hojo didn't raise your pain tolerance high enough, hm? You've just crossed everything in your to do list, though. At least this time you'll go down _useful_.

 _Shut up_.

Darkness clouded his vision, high pressure fried the nerves of his ears, his skin burned itself in glee, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't _breathe_.

Fate held his head under and drowned him again, intent on handing him over to Death's open hands, just like that fateful night in Nibelheim.

The woman was now encased in crystal; silence and hollow gutted her song. A tear fell down her cheek and he reached out-

A whirlwind shattered his vision into tiny shards, sucked him into a swirling tunnel, and smothered his lungs with its might. He twisted and kicked, but it just wouldn't let go. It crushed him in a tight grip, rattled him hard, and then finally hurled him forward. Sephiroth hit a bright light with a force that jarred every inch of his bones.

He didn't dare move. His whole body ached, but nothing seemed broken. Hell wouldn't be so kind on him though, so he must be still alive. Time stretched for a while before his senses gave coherent input.

Clear midday, scorching heat, cracking sound from a lit fire, damp grass under him, smell of blood and burnt woods, _fresh air_.

Sephiroth closed his eyes and took a slow, shuddering deep breath. Small spots glittered behind his eyelids, but the image didn't reappear.

That woman again. Who was she?

He grasped the grass and felt for his swords. No one had captured him yet. Could he be that lucky? The infirmary was still in the bomb's destructive reach, wasn't it?

He opened his eyes and blinked against the sun's glare. Disappointed that he hadn't kicked the bucket yet? He suppressed a sigh and sat up. The world only tilted a little this time and the nausea was manageable, so maybe it wasn't his time to expire yet.

Sephiroth picked up his swords and stood. A half broken wall separated him from the destruction at the rest of the building. He scrunched his face at the wetness on the swords’ handle. So messy. He wiped the blood off the blades before sheathing them. Masamune had clearly spoiled him for life. He never had to do this with its clean slices.

He tightened his lips, fingers grasping thin air. The long katana could still be somewhere at the bottom of Nibelheim's Mako reactor. The Lifestream could have swallowed it and refused to give it back. Hojo could have hid it. A scientist might have a crazy death wish and decided to steal it.

Give it up, it's already gone. Just put it along with your hard earned wealth and possessions. Oh, and your sweet pension plan. After all, you were Shinra’s _property_.

Right. Fate was on a roll. Or maybe she was just pissed because he won their bet.

_So intent on taking everything I have, are you?_

Sephiroth resumed his walk and trekked down the hill. He had left his stolen, nondescript motorcycle back at the outskirt of the village. This project was almost finished now; only one item left in his to do list.

Shinra had the resources to rebuild everything he had destroyed. He needed to give the man a friendly message about it.

_If you're considering rebuilding the cloning facilities and restarting the super soldier program, then I will personally burn each and every one of them._

He might not still be alive to carry out the threat, but Shinra didn’t have to know that.

The elevator dinged and stopped again.

Sephiroth brushed the spider webs tangled on his feet and stayed still. He supposed he could get in like a normal person and breeze into the President’s office, but then he might need to leave a trail of unnecessary kills. After the mess at North Corel, they had identified him as a threat. The guards would now be on a watch for his presence in Shinra Building. They would think twice before going anywhere near his vicinity, but some of them could be stupid enough to greet his sword.

He just wanted to have a civil talk with the President, not butcher the man’s employees.

The elevator dinged at the 69th floor. Sephiroth jumped from the top of elevator shaft and pushed open the door to the 70th floor. He stopped short at the ransacked office cubicles. The walls were painted in blood, papers strewn everywhere, and bodies littered on the floor.

Of course, then the alarm blared.

Sephiroth snatched out his sword and ran to the President's office. The door was torn off its hinge, the President on the chair, a long sword impaled his chest. Still warm, but no pulse. Sephiroth ground his teeth and yanked the long sword. It glimmered once before turning into a dull, rusty sword.

Not Masamune.

Someone broke the windows in the next room. Sephiroth kicked the partition just as the killer looked back from the windowsill. Long silver hair, long sword, manic bloodshot eyes, a wide grin split the face.

Did he really look like that back then at Nibelheim? Sephiroth gripped his sword tight. And how was she still alive?

Jenova escaped to the Lifestream just before you died from drowning, and didn't she promise you she would come back to haunt you?

As if the torment that plagued him every night for the past five years was not enough.

He sent a huge fireball at her, but she only laughed and jumped out of the windows. Jenova broke into the windows a couple floors down, and he jumped to follow suit. Screams of the office workers and choked off sounds of people dying on her sword blasted his hearing. He slammed into her defenses, their swords arched in deafening blows. The blade on her hand thrummed, casting a familiar call to him, and he hacked his sword with a new vigor.

She _dared_ to steal Masamune?

He kicked her ribcage and sent her flying to a pillar, paper and debris flew between them. She growled in rage and sent him lightning strikes. His shield deflected them and they broke the pillars and windows instead. The building shook as they traded more magical blows, and at this rate, they were going to level it with their fight.

"Sephiroth." Jenova purred him a greeting. Sephiroth ducked the incoming fire ball and slashed at Jenova's stomach, but she already dashed outside.

 _Oh no you don't_.

Sephiroth sent her a fusion of fire and lightning. She blindly raised her right hand and a glowing red shield just absorbed the spell. Masamune engaged with his sword and stroke back, the force of it slammed him into the void of the elevator's shaft. Jenova slashed the elevator's cord before he hit the elevator top, and the lift free fell sixty floors down.

He stabbed his sword against the wall and hauled himself up, breaking open an elevator door just when the lift crashed the ground and a ball of fire lit the shaft. He chased after Jenova who had jumped from the windows. She ran vertically down the building with Masamune dragging into the concrete to anchor her fall. He sent her another fire-lightning fusion and the red shield swallowed it again. Sephiroth growled and followed her trail.

Jenova blasted several lightning balls at him. Sephiroth jumped the rest of his flight, clashing swords with her in mid-air, and barely erected a shield when Masamune glowed green and a white explosion blinded his eyes. The fall knocked him flat against the roof of a Shinra Corporation container truck. It gave way as he landed and cold metal from various spare parts dug into his spine. Sephiroth choked down a cry and hefted himself up; he climbed the stack of boxes to get out of the container.

The wailing siren and police cars scattered on the parking lot. The guards surrounded him but hesitated to move any closer. Sephiroth paid them no heed and ran to the back of the building, where screams after screams suffocated the night.

Jenova was too preoccupied painting the air with the tang of blood. When she looked up, Sephiroth already hurled a powered up fusion ball at her.

The collision threw her against a tree. The bark snapped and a green glow shuddered around her before it dulled. Sephiroth fired two more attacks, but her red shield was ready this time. Jenova picked herself up from the debris and Sephiroth stopped dead at the sight.

The woman in his visions.

Long, braided brown hair. White coat above a black body fit suit and trouser. A cold stare that froze him on the spot, a small smirk played on her mouth. She tossed her hair and her high heels clanked on the pavement as she stalked forward. Masamune glinted and held steady in her grasp.

Sephiroth pointed his sword to her neck, and the woman stopped outside his sword's range.

"Sephiroth." Her voice was soft. She tilted her chin to regard him. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. The name tag on her coat said Dr. Crescent. Her eyes were clear from madness, but Jenova's presence still lashed and screamed at him.

"My precious son. It’s time for our reunion."

_Come home with me, son. Save me and I'll show you the stars._

Sephiroth threw a lightning ball. The red shield caressed Jenova’s rich laugh. Masamune started another dance.

"I see Hojo hasn't told you anything." Her grin mismatched her furious strikes. "You can't even recognize your birth mother."

He cracked a roundhouse kick to give space, but she ducked and re-engaged his blade.

His biological mother?

"She is dead."

Jenova tsked and kicked his left side; her speed didn't waver. He entertained her blows at the same pace.

"Why do you keep believing what your good father has to say?"

Why indeed.

 _Your mother is Jenova and she died giving birth to you_.

Jenova crowded on his defense, but Sephiroth didn't let himself falter.

"Your mother's name is Lucrecia Crescent, and she is still alive. Imprint her face in your brain." Jenova whirled and blasted a lightning storm so sudden he had no choice but duck the strikes. “There, I’ve granted your final wish.”

Pain burst in his head as Jenova probed her way back to his mind. White agony racked his body and yanked a scream off his throat. She was struggling, though. He threw her off and slammed the link shut.

Sephiroth opened his eyes with a gasp, half curled on his knees. Jenova was thrown several feet back, crumpled under a tree. She snarled and fired a lightning storm at him.

The storm picked up with rising debris and heat. Wind howled around his ears and a thick mist rammed static currents against his spine. Sephiroth erected a shield as fire balls rained on him. The hits to his shield pounded a nasty throb behind his eyes. When they stopped, the mist faded to a cold, cloudy night. Jenova’s presence had evaporated from his skin after conveniently kicking the ‘Die in peace, preferably without hemorrhaging’ project in his to do list and poking a hot poker with her name to his brain.

Sephiroth picked himself up and huffed.

His final wish, huh?

He turned to the back gate where he parked his motorcycle. The guards’ bodies were sprawled forgotten on the ground, and silence jogged along with him.

After he saw his mother’s grave with his own eyes, he had come to adapt to a self sufficient existence where she didn’t exist. That never smothered the questions in his mind, though. When Jenova sunk her claws that night at Nibelheim and tugged him to a pool of answers, he plunged head first. In that hell, Jenova yanked a locked chest about his mother from his tight grip, and made sure he memorize her laugh when she burned it to crisp. Nothing left but a faint wish, a fleeting thought that flickered out faster than it zapped in, not even half-formed in his consciousness.

He revved the bike to a full throttle. Light drizzle wrapped a freezing hood on his face, washing him with waves of time that pressed a tight grip on his throat. The phantom pain finally took a solid shape and refused to let go of its hook on his mind’s eyes.

Shinra had manipulated him and lied to him his whole life; he had nothing he could use to seek the truth. Now he had her name and her face. Dr. Lucrecia Crescent: a doctor, not some unnamed woman anymore. No wonder Hojo was excited to experiment with her on creating the perfect weapon. Did she work for Shinra? Did they keep her files? Did she give her consent on the experiment? Were the research notes at Shinra Mansion true?

What really happened to her? Was she really alive?

Night raged along the speed of his bike. He killed the engine at the top of a hill far outside Midgar’s border. The city waved merry lights at him, even when rain finally granted them its presence. The sky was dark, but somewhere out there she could be seeing the same horizon right at this moment.

Sephiroth wiped the rain from his face and raked his hands on his now-soaked hair.

If life granted him one last wish, if he could just do one more thing before this fine body betrayed him...

She didn’t even have to answer anything. He would keep quiet and bury his questions to his grave in exchange for this wish.

He breathed against the twisting ache in his chest.

 _Mother... I just want to see you before I die_.


	2. Chapter 2

Darkness squeezed him in a tight grip and pain exploded in his skull. He twisted to get away from the sharp pain in his spine, but the ground kept a firm grip on him. His body convulsed against his will as the pain got worse. A sudden need to laugh bubbled up his constricted airway. He threw his head back, groaning.

'Die in peace, preferably without hemorrhaging.'

Double strike through, a caps-lock entry under that item.

'Just die. Make it quick.'

The agony released him abruptly. Sephiroth shut his eyes and shuddered as the seizure kicked him one more time before stomping out. He curled his hands into fists and raised his head--oh _goddess_. He stilled and ground his teeth.

Breathe. That's it. Take it slow.

He took a couple deep breaths before rolling onto his back. A strangled gasp died in his throat and he pressed trembling fingers against the painful fireworks behind his eyelids.

How are you going to fight Jenova like this?

Sephiroth choked past the thick pool of blood. How indeed. He grabbed the arm of the sofa and heaved himself off the floor. Yu’s laptop was still opened. Running text filled the screen and a green light blinked from the device connected to it. It did that every time his search phrase hit a match in the Turks’ latest reports.

Rufus Shinra had taken over the company and issued an order to kill him on sight to the Turks. Personal bodyguards of Shinra had been busy all over the place. They started their investigation from Kalm to Chocobo Farm, Mythril Mines, Junon, a side trip to Fort Condor, and now boarded on a cargo ship that departed from Junon. Sephiroth clicked on the footage attached in the report.

A window popped with the video of a bloodbath on the ship. Jenova was having a field day and milking the crowds’ attention dry. She shape-shifted into him again; the camera caught his face while he was flinging Masamune left and right in a clear view. Then the image flickered out and his body disappeared from the frame.

Sephiroth shook his head.

He didn’t possess the ability to teleport, but it looked like that small detail escaped everyone’s judgement.

The fateful cargo ship was following a sighting of _Sephiroth_ at North Corel. It could very well be Jenova, or it could be one of his clones. After all he did miss the ‘kill the clones and monsters’ mission objective when he destroyed the cloning facility at North Corel. No evident pattern from Jenova’s world tour yet, but the alien must have a specific goal in mind. Something she was hunting around the world.

She was luring the band of search parties somewhere, but even the Turks' intelligence couldn't draw any conclusion yet. For some reason, Avalanche had also taken interest in her, but the most curious thing was why _Strife_ was still alive and seemed to join the merry chase.

Sephiroth gazed outside the windows. At Nibelheim, he had stabbed the blond with Masamune. The very chance for Strife to live was negligible; the man should be dead. Hojo must be beyond pissed having to save a bunch of people to nurture that night. And Zack...

He glanced at the Turks’ report. Apparently Zack managed to get out with Strife when he demolished the Nibelheim facility. At that time he was still a bit delirious from the experiments and wasn’t at his full wit, otherwise he would have saved Hojo’s laptop and who knew, maybe he could have found a way to cure his illness. He could learn what Hojo did to Zack and Strife and helped them in their escape.

Maybe then Zack wouldn’t have to die on the run. 

A sharp pain pounded in his head. Sephiroth rubbed his face, his hands came away red. For a moment he just stared at them. The seizure. Right. No use dwelling on what could have been. He didn't have that much time left. Sephiroth cleared his throat and poured himself a drink to wash away the taste of blood.

Until he could make sense of Jenova’s plan, following her everywhere like a good hound was useless. He would wait until the Turks’ reports gave a hint he could work on, then he would be there when Jenova decided to strike. Sephiroth grabbed the remote and turned on the TV.

"...formerly thought to be missing in action on his last mission to Nibelheim, has now murdered the president of Shinra Corporation and slaughtered a number of civilians."

The tape zoomed into the shaky and low resolution of the massacre in Shinra Building, probably taken by a phone by one of the surviving victims. Sephiroth watched as Jenova gutted a pregnant woman.

The glass in his grasp cracked.

The screen switched back to the reporter.

"The General's motive for committing the homicide is not known, but our sources relay that there might be a bigger cover up in this matter, involving the destruction of several of Shinra's facilities in the past few months, even back up until the supposed last mission to Nibelheim. The government has issued an arrest for General Sephiroth and offered a fair amount of rewards for any information regarding the General's whereabouts. As of this moment we couldn't get a statement from Rufus Shinra, who now takes the title as the president of Shinra Corporation, but the man has been called for questioning by the police. In other news..."

Sephiroth finished his drink in one gulp, put down his glass, and turned off the TV. Was he any better than Jenova? The pregnancy of the clones hurt a great deal and he killed the clones' mothers because he couldn't stand there and let those women suffer. It was always a quick and painless death. They had begged him for it, and no one had ever asked him to be freed, except that one time.

Even if she managed to escape the lab, she probably wouldn't survive the childbirth without the controlled environment to facilitate the labor. So did the child; the clones most likely required additional treatments after birth. She must know that, but why did she insist on getting free?

If you have known you'll suffer and die without Hojo's medical support, would you still want to escape and destroy Nibelheim cloning facility? Would you rather live in imprisonment and be helpless against their objectification, instead of dying under freedom's shelter?

The sharp pain decided to ransack his head and sting his eyes. Sephiroth tilted his head up, leaned back against the sofa, and breathed through the familiar pain. Was this all worth it?

So you said you gave up on forgiveness, but then what do you hope to accomplish in trying to clean up the mess you left behind? If you know you're going to hell anyway, why do you still bother to be _good_?

Sephiroth rubbed his eyes.

At any case, he was responsible for all the lives lost in this. The news on TV just made it official, so no point in getting upset over it.

He fisted his hands as the pain escalated.

Of course. Didn't make it hurt any less, though.

He opened his eyes and straightened, careful with the way movement jolted his head. Besides Jenova, there was still one more thing he needed to do. He typed a new search to the laptop. By the time he amassed enough info about Lucrecia, the pain in his head had somewhat receded.

Dr. Lucrecia Crescent, the only female scientist in Hojo’s team. She began her career as an assistant to Dr. Grimoire Valentine; Lucrecia contributed several research reports about chemical analysis on Lifestream’s stagnation, materia formation, genetic engineering, and neuroscience. After joining Hojo’s team on Jenova Project, she married the man and agreed on the experimentation to her and her fetus.

Her health was unstable due to the experiments and she deserted Shinra and disappeared for a year after she gave birth. When they found her residing around Mt. Nibel area, they discovered her ongoing affiliation and correspondence to Hojo and his researches. She stopped her communication with Hojo and moved to Crystal Cave a year before Nibelheim Incident, and they kept a periodic check on her ever since.

Sephiroth skimmed other trivia on the notes. If Hojo continued his experiments on Lucrecia, the old man would not publish his notes here. The Turks’ reports only highlighted the summary of events, no technical research notes attached on them.

Why did Lucrecia leave her baby on their hands? Did they tell her the same lie that he died just after he was born? Was that the reason his mother never sought him out? Sephiroth fetched a new glass and refilled his drink. If he visited her now, would she be happy to see him? Did she know he destroyed Nibelheim?

His headache returned with enough enthusiasm to make him wince.

So little time.

Sephiroth leaned back on the sofa and waited until the blue wallpaper pattern across his seat didn't blur anymore.

Was it possible to make a fresh start on their relationship?

So, new item in his to do list, just above 'Kill Jenova: make sure she's dead this time.'

'Visit Lucrecia. Bring lots of flowers and practice a non-threatening smile.'

Sephiroth strolled the small street of Nibelheim market and tried to suppress a permanent flinch. Every inch of this town was ready to welcome him.

You burned this house. You killed this family. You let someone dying in this alley. Hey, did you remember this flower shop? You ransacked it, gutted the owner, and set it on fire.

"Sir, are you okay?" A girl looked at him with a frown. The flowers in the shop beamed at him. Sephiroth stomped down his nausea and could only nod.

Practice a non-threatening smile.

Well, that one was a bust.

"What kind of flowers are you looking for?"

The ones that said ‘Every bad things you heard about me was probably true, but would you please give me another chance?’

Sephiroth cleared his throat. "I'm visiting my mother. I haven't seen her for a while."

"Oh, I see," the girl clasped her hand and smiled. "I'll get them for you, please wait here."

He arrived at Crystal Cave around noon. Sephiroth climbed to the entrance, the flowers safely tucked near his sword sheath. Of all the places to call a home, why would she choose to stay here? He glanced at the small cabin below. The cabin had a spartan look; all the food stock, clothing and essential home products were kept neatly in the storage. No electronic devices, no communication gadgets, no printed literatures, not even written journals. Maybe Lucrecia liked the solitude and climbed to the cave every day to meditate? He huffed when he reached the top and huddled closer to his jacket.

Hopefully he didn't interrupt--Sephiroth paused at the entrance.

Stalactites and stalagmites guarded the perimeter of the cave. An expanse of damp rocks blanketed with moss decorated the floor, cleared a path to the center where the crystals strutted out. He stepped on them and made his way to the crystals encasing a prone body. Light pinged its way around the face he had come to remember, and Sephiroth touched the cold surface.

Soft lines on her face, white pearl necklace above the arms over her heart, white dress cloaking her body... His hand clenched on unyielding lump of crystal.

 _Mother_...

What happened?

He frowned and put his palm flat on the crystal and poured a low level fire spell. The crystal glowed once before it shoved him with the same fire spell. He jumped back and glared at the crystal, then let out the twin swords. The swords made a series of quick strokes that would have carved a perfect sculpture. The crystal glowed again and he grunted at the impact of its mirror attack.

Fighting an unseen force coming at him with unseen blades was a new experience. Fortunately he memorized the moves, so countering them was a matter of predictive precision. Unfortunately, the flowers didn’t survive the scuffle. Colorful petals showered the cave like first snow on winter. Sephiroth sheathed his swords and stood in front of the crystal structure.

What was he supposed to do now?

He traced the lines of her face with his finger.

How did Hojo soil someone this beautiful? Did she really endure the experiments as stated in the research notes he found at Shinra’s Mansion? What could possibly make her consent to conceive him and submit herself in a sickening torment? What happened to her after she gave birth to him? The info he gathered from the Turks’ report said she was still alive when he left Midgar four days ago. How come she was now buried in this... _tomb_?

 _Are you still alive_?

The serene face offered him no answers. Sephiroth closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the crystal. He breathed in; cool air tinged with ozone filled his lungs. It tasted a lot like the Lifestream, but why did it crystallize here? Why would they hold Lucrecia in a stasis? Were they trying to punish him with this?

He balled his fists and slowed his breathing.

"I’ve found you at least."

Brought the flowers and all, hoping to get to know her better. Hoping to see whether she was okay. Hoping to make sure she would continue on living long past his borrowed time. Sephiroth swallowed to a dry throat.

Looked like he was too late.

"I’m sorry."

His whisper echoed down the cave walls and disappeared into a peaceful silence. Rays of crystal light sneaked on his eyelids and stirred a slow pattern until questions and wishes in his head quieted. How very zen. It was quite a good place to rest. If the fight with Jenova didn't kill him, then he would come home to this place.

Sephiroth thinned his lips. Home had been a concept he never fully grasped before. It was just a place secure enough for him to close his eyes and get a handful of hours of sleep. It was somewhere private enough to wash the aches from whatever feat they expected of him that day. He liked the spacious room he could use to practice katas until the movements drove out thoughts from his mind, but nothing so special about 'home' he looked forward to. Home was just another place they assigned him to stop by. By now he had mastered the art of pretending they didn't bug the place as well as his communication channels, screen his reading materials, or even filter his foods.

Home was not a discovery of life he had the privilege of finding. Funny that Fate granted him a chance to meet it in a dimly lit cave in the middle of nowhere.

Sephiroth withdrew and frowned. At the base of the crystal near Lucrecia's feet was a... tiny shrine? In the middle of the shrine a thin silver crystal stood out. He dislodged it from the cradle. The oval crystal was small, he could hide it in his palm. His thumb ground on the embossed symbol.

What was this? The character wasn’t Wutainese. If it was a word, he couldn’t recognize the language. A small hole punched the end of the surface. Was this supposed to be a pendant? He looked up at Lucrecia. Did she intend to give this as her last message? If yes, then to whom? Was it possible that she also had visions of him and knew he was coming?

Sephiroth shuffled to sit beside the shrine, leaned his back against the crystal.

He hadn’t even said hello, so why did she say goodbye? He tightened his jacket. But if she left a message at all, then at least she wasn’t taken against her will here. He glanced at the crystal pendant on his palm and pocketed it. Maybe this was her welcome.

 _Till we meet again in the next life. I promise I’ll reach out for you_.

The mountain's cold breeze caressed his skin, but warmth parked and wandered his chest, too cozy to move. Sephiroth watched the open sky behind the cave’s entrance. He should check on the Turks' report and monitor their search progress with Jenova. He should go and catch up with them. He had seen his mother up close, and before he could stay here, he had business to attend to. Jenova's plan to destroy the world wouldn't wait until he was done with his reunion.

He ground his teeth and breathed in.

Was it too much to ask then if he wanted to be here for a while?

He was en-route from Costa del Sol to cross the continent to Midgar when it happened.

A strong earthquake hit the town he was passing. From the parking lot of the inn upside the hill, the city below him was cloaked in darkness and crumbled into itself. The ground hollered. A major shockwave tore it open, swallowing houses and buildings, heading his way.

Sephiroth revved the engine of his bike and fled south. The road cracked as the wave rallied closer. The port was still a long way down; he had to take a shortcut.

He braced himself as he hit the road fence and free fell into the lush pine forest below. The bike buckled when he hit the ground, not used for rough handling. Sephiroth held on tight as he maneuvered the bike through the barks and trees, the landslide just on his tail.

He popped out into a clearing on a hill above the port bridge. The road ended abruptly in front of him.

The wave crunched the ground on his feet, but he was already airborne. A ripple of green light passed through the hill and slammed into him. Sephiroth choked as a strong deja vu drowned him, strangled his throat, and crushed his lungs.

The cargo ship jerked and tilted in dangerous arch as he landed on its dock. He skidded several feet forward and hit a container. Sephiroth fought a strong urge to hurl; his vision wavered as his struggle for air did not yield.

 _Oh, goddess_...

The green light disappeared in the horizon and the suffocating mist finally released its grip on him. Sephiroth leaned back on the cold metal wall of the container, closed his eyes, and took a shaky breath.

That wave... that was the Lifestream. He swallowed convulsively, his dry throat hurt. Something massive had just disturbed it.

He scrambled for the laptop and connected it to the Turks’ network. He had checked the news before he left Lucrecia’s cave, and the Turks’ informant spotted Jenova heading to the Temple of the Ancients. But nothing indicated that the new direction was any different than the previous pit-stops, so he decided to resume his travel to Midgar.

Sephiroth opened the reports and followed the news feed. After the failed attempt at acquiring Tiny Bronco, the Turks cooled off at Wutai and planned to intercept Strife’s party at the Temple of the Ancients. The Turks had their spy hand them the keystone, but Jenova hurt Tseng in her attempt to acquire something called the Black materia.

Sephiroth froze.

A materia to summon the ultimate destructive magic, Meteor, which had the power to destroy the entire planet.

 _Gaia_.

So that was Jenova’s plan. He gritted his teeth and read the rest of the report. Strife managed to retrieve the black materia, only to--was this a joke? Hand it over to Jenova. What in Gaia’s name-- _oh_... Jenova tricked him.

Sephiroth frowned. Jenova managed to bend himself against his will because she had a free reign on her cells in his body. If she was able to control Strife, that could only mean that Hojo had also boosted the blond with J-cells. Sephiroth pressed his fingers to his temples. Jenova tried to overpower him again when they met at the Shinra Building, but she couldn’t control him anymore. Did Hojo alter something in his blood? After Nibelheim, the man had four free years to do whatever he wanted with his body.

But Strife was finally able to fend off Jenova’s mind control. Did Hojo's new alteration help that? Or was she not able to have a complete control on the blond because Strife wasn’t born with her cells in him? Sephiroth shook his head. Strife was a wild card. As long as the man couldn’t figure out how to throw Jenova off his mind permanently, he was a liability.

Now Jenova had summoned Meteor. The Turks were currently following one of Strife’s group, Aerith Gainsborough, to the Forbidden City. They believed that she was the last Cetra and that she had a plan in countering Meteor. Sephiroth closed the laptop and picked himself up. Jenova would try to stop anything on her way.

He should go there to give her a warm welcome.

When he arrived at the shrine in the main temple at Forbidden City, Jenova was descending with Masamune drawn above a girl on the altar. Sephiroth threw himself against its path on reflex, the twin swords whined under Masamune's force. He wheezed as the momentum knocked him onto the girl. Gainsborough let out a short cry and something fell down on the water below.

"Sorry."

He gritted out, held on from Jenova's unfaltering push. Her lips curled up into a mock smile.

"Sephiroth."

He scraped for strength on an awkward position to push back and kicked her off him. He pointed his left sword at her neck.

"Jenova."

Jenova’s eyes lit in glee as she laughed. Masamune charged at him and Sephiroth couldn't spare his attention elsewhere as his twin swords jumped against Masamune's furious attack. The blows' screech echoed on the walls and Jenova didn't let him go into offense. She ducked his kick and jumped back; her blade glowed before a storm of fire broke out. Sephiroth raised his shield covering everyone; the firestorm gave a fiery push on his spell.

He whirled to a sharp swish of air on his left and his blade clanged against a broadsword, almost lost his grip as he came face to face with...

Strife?

That one almost cost him a kick to the head. His swords danced on instinct as Strife hacked his way into his defense. He was vaguely aware of someone from Strife’s party shooting on Jenova and deflecting Jenova's rain of attack. Strife's eyes were black with rage and the blond's steps were as swift as his intention to kill him. Sephiroth ground his teeth and pushed back the broadsword, going into offense. He pressed on Strife's weak points, their swords arched in continuous circles.

A familiar sharp pain lit his head ablaze.

No, not now.

The pain paid him no heed, grabbed on his equilibrium and yanked hard.

Sephiroth choked and made a hasty retreat from his attack. Strife followed and didn't give him room to breathe. His head spun as Strife spat curses at him.

"Why-" Block. "Can't you-" Block, push. "Just _die_?" 

Sephiroth ducked the kick too late. His head hit the burnt wall; a blinding agony tore a cry off his throat. A shot zinged through and Strife had to back off to dodge the bullets.

What?

Sephiroth blinked, the sparks of the deflected bullets against the broadsword in front of his eyes brought his dim vision back to the suffocating air of the shrine. 

"Don't you _touch_ him."

A man barked with cold voice; his body half-shielded him and his stare hurled daggers into Strife's. Blood trailed down from the man's temple in slow trickle. Long black hair, red eyes. Sephiroth struggled to recall the image from the Turks’ report on Strife’s party. Oh. Vincent Valentine, ex-Turk.

Jenova's fireball rushed straight onto him--too close--and Sephiroth winced as he raised his shield, the spell fried through his nerves. Jenova's image flickered and he shook his head to clear his vision. She resumed her attack, laughing, and he pushed off the wall to get better leverage.

Valentine’s voice was breathless as the man slotted himself at his back.

"Who is your evil twin?"

Sephiroth ducked Strife's swing that passed Valentine's defense. Strife’s black eyes glinted as the blond grinned.

"Jenova, shape shifter."

Jenova blasted them a lightning ball and Sephiroth raised his shield again to deflect it.

"What's going on with Cloud?"

"Hojo injected Jenova’s cells to Strife." He blocked Masamune's thrust and returned her attack. "Jenova is controlling him."

Valentine let out a frustrated sound as he reloaded his gun.

"How do we free him from her control?"

The man pulled another gun and shot into Strife's defense. Strife lost his footing and Valentine moved forward, a power kick sent Strife flying into the pool below the altar.

Jenova jerked as Strife hit the water, her eyes wide with shock. Sephiroth rammed his sword down her throat. Jenova's body glowed and exploded into ashes, but she re-materialized into Lucrecia’s body near the exit.

Valentine tensed beside him. Sephiroth blasted Jenova a fusion ball. It would have hit her had Valentine not cried and punched him in the jaw.

"No! You-"

Pain slit his brain like trigger-happy razor in depressive funk. Sephiroth throttled a gasp and kneed the man in the stomach instead.

"That is Lucrecia!" Valentine's eyes glowed with rage.

Sephiroth caught Jenova smirking at them. He snarled and shoved Valentine off him.

"That is _Jenova_."

Jenova slammed her hand on the ground and three fusion storms erupted from her hand. The temple shook under her quake spell. Sephiroth raised his shield, gritted his teeth as the spells hit, and threw her a fused fire and lightning ball. The spell hit an empty spot and he dashed after her.

Part of the shrine started to collapse as he made his way out. He chased her to the outer edge of the forest behind the temple and Jenova staggered as she passed a clearing near the temple’s back gate. The tall pillars surrounding the clearing came alive with green glows— an intricate pattern of runes lit on their surfaces. Jenova fell to her knees with a scream and Sephiroth didn’t waste the chance.

He pulled on the tattered ends of his magic. Static electricity strained and shocked his veins as he released his attack to Jenova. Her face twisted into an ugly sneer and she blasted her own magic on him.

The world exploded into a colorful rainbow before it dulled to a hazy soundproof tunnel. Pink flower petals rained on the park. Sephiroth landed on the ground the same time Jenova did, his vision shook hard. Jenova opened her mouth in rage and the air around her turned green.

A hole tore the very air and opened a way into the Lifestream. Jenova sent him a blast of energy before she plopped into the gate and disappeared from his view.

The magic drain weighed him from scrambling away. Jenova’s attack shattered his weak shield and sent him sprawling several feet backwards.

And then the pain hit.

Quiet drips echoed in the darkness. The tunnel zoomed on the dimly lit cave; green light spiraled down to the massive crystal structure at the center. Jenova’s laugh deafened his ears. His head throbbed and his chest hurt as he forced himself a futile run to race with her.

 _I will make her suffer, and you will live the rest of your short and pitiful existence knowing you brought this on her_.

The green light hit the crystal case of Lucrecia’s prison. The cave shook hard.

No!

The crystals melted in a blinding flash and Lucrecia fell gracefully on one knee, hands spread on the ground like an angel coming down to earth, white dress flowing around her. She raised her head, her brown eyes glinted as her stare pierced him.

No. _Mother_.

Then her mouth twitched into a wide sneer, and the world crashed down on him.


	3. Chapter 3

A violent jerk woke him up. Someone shoved him on the ground and a fire bolt missed his head by mere inches. Valentine grimaced and fired both of his guns to the towering, growling monster headed their way.

Sephiroth scrambled to his feet and the world lurched to a dangerous tilt. He swallowed convulsively against a strong nausea and Valentine caught him before he face planted on the ground. A wide claw split the air in front of him and the man jerked him away from its path. The world burst into brilliant sparks as his head hit a formative rock.

A very tall dragon-like beast with heavy armor and sharp spikes all over its body hurled a punch at him.

Valentine’s shot cut the monster’s line of attack and it backed off a bit. Sephiroth wheezed for air and ground his teeth, his vision wouldn’t stop swaying. Valentine snatched the twin swords and thrust them into Sephiroth’s hands. Sephiroth nodded a thanks, but the slight movement sent a sharp ache to his head. His skin was on fire and he rasped through a pulsing pain in his throat.

“What is that?”

The monster raised its other appendage and swung at them with all its might. They ducked the hit and spread out to stand on either side of the beast.

“One of the Weapons.”

The beast whirled around when Valentine’s shots hit it, but then growled and charged at Sephiroth instead. “They are the planet’s defense against a threat. Aerith said Meteor’s summon may trigger it.”

Sephiroth fled from his place, his grip to his swords tightened as he equipped Long Range materia and slashed down the monster’s shoulder. The monster ducked and swung its tail at his head. He blocked and swung his sword to slice at the monster, but the monster didn’t stop aiming at him. Sephiroth jumped to land an aerial attack. The monster’s cry sounded like glee as it opened its wings and met his swords heads on. Its spiked tail hit his knee and broke his momentum. He barely had the time to catch himself as he skidded on the ground.

Perfect. It thought he was the planet’s threat.

Shouldn’t it go after Jenova? Why couldn’t it detect her, then?

Sephiroth rolled as a sharp spike stopped his monument and sent him on his back. The monster yanked the spike and dragged it towards him, cleaving the formative rock in two. He hauled himself to his feet and immediately folded down again; a searing pain in his knee stole his breath. The spike hit the swords in his hands and shoved him several feet backwards onto a boulder, the impact jarred on his arms.

Several shots jolted the monster’s back and it spun, tearing against Valentine’s defense with a roar. The man jumped and dodged the attacks, but the beast’s tail slapped him on the back and flung him on the wall of rocks.

The tail bounced back to pound on the twin swords. His knee sent small explosions through his veins when he stood, but this time Sephiroth was ready.

“Vincent!”

The beast looked just as surprised. It snarled and changed direction of its attack. Strife blocked the incoming hit with ease and ignored the monster. His broadsword rushed against the twin swords like a mad wolf on steroids.

"What did you _do_?"

Did Strife really think he summoned the beast to hurt Valentine? Sephiroth didn't bother to answer as he threw Strife off him. The blond ducked his parallel strikes and launched a new series of hit. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. It wasn't an exact copy, but something about the technique reminded him of Zack's fighting style.

The broadsword pushed hard and he had to pivot on his bad knee. Sephiroth gritted his teeth as he disengaged and dodged a couple fire bolts from the beast. A three way fight when his body applied for sick leave was not his idea of fun, but after a few more attacks, Strife finally caught on that he wasn't on friendly terms with the beast and that it preyed on them both.

It wanted to destroy Jenova and _her children_.

Strife grimaced as the man met his gaze. Sephiroth gestured him to cover and inched his way to Valentine's side. Strife took the hint and led the beast away. Sephiroth fended off the monster's last hit and dashed to the clearing, cold whirlwind splashed on his face. He crouched near Valentine.

The black haired man curled up, blood all over his face. His body shook hard; Valentine bit off a scream when something moved inside his skin and rattled his bones. Sephiroth's stomach tightened. A transformation?

A fast movement on his left triggered him to whisk Valentine out of its way. Two fire bolts punched the ground. He couldn't get far with Valentine twisting on his arms, so he stumbled and brought them both down. The landing jarred the wound in his bad knee and they buckled forward. An ugly sound of bones breaking and rearranging themselves tore an anguished howl from Valentine.

Sephiroth cursed and yanked his Restore materia, bracing himself as he called Heal. Valentine seized as the spell hit; his body shuddered twice before the transformation stopped and reversed. Sephiroth fought the insistent throbs in his head; his magic hadn't recovered from the earlier drain the fight with Jenova had caused.

When the spell completed, the materia in his grasp cracked and Sephiroth stifled a gasp at the sharp backlash. He steadied himself and blinked several times to clear the dizziness from his vision. Valentine groaned and opened his eyes, frowning at him. Before he could ask whether he was alright, the man slumped into exhausted sleep.

A fierce clang of sword snatched his attention. Strife leapt into the air and six meteors rained on the Weapon. Sephiroth furrowed his brows. Was that Zack’s Meteor Shots? The beast glowed once before a flash of light swallowed the meteors. Strife’s broadsword formed a fast tornado that hacked at the Weapon's front armor and cracked it open. Strife jumped to its' eye level, fused a strong ice and lightning spell to his sword, and rammed his blade down. The monster jerked violently; its ultrasonic wail banged on their ears and distracted Strife from dodging the tail's whip. Strife hit the ground hard and lost his grip on the sword.

The monster exploded with a magical shockwave and flooded the clearing with fire bolts. Sephiroth raised a shield around them on reflex.

The air rippled in waves and battered his shield. It flickered under the onslaught and Strife didn't look like he was in a shape to lend a hand. He didn't really have enough reserve for this, but there was no other way. He winced as he balanced on his knees, linked Ultima and Fire materia, and then slammed both of his swords on the ground. His shield brimmed with the new boost and layered them in thick cocoon, absorbing the damage of the Weapon’s final attack. The spell coiled a jagged chain around his neck and yanked. Sephiroth choked and tasted blood, but he ground his teeth and held on. The pain in his head roared, tearing his visions into a white hot, shuddering agony.

The shockwave circled into a fiery storm, took the sand from the ground into melting temperature, and crushed his shield with enough force that clawed a strangled cry from his throat.

He didn't know how long he was suspended in electric cradle, but the wave finally dispersed into misty purple sparkles. Sephiroth swayed; his lungs screamed against the spell's tight restraints for air and his grip on his swords slipped.

Did someone just call his name?

Darkness crept and loomed above him. It grasped the back of his head in mock caress and shoved him into a free fall. His hands tried to find purchase, but the darkness only grinned at his futile attempts.

Then it opened its sharp jaws and swallowed him whole.

Sephiroth woke with a start.

Open sky, chirping birds, the sound of running water, smell of wet earth… _so cold_.

Light rubbed his eyes with sandpaper and he flinched, shutting his eyes tight. His throat burned itself with vigor. His heart thrummed to match a fast beat that pounded inside his head, every nerves in his body screamed. A touch to his arm kicked his reflex. He rolled and brought his assailant down, ready to snap the neck on his hands.

A sharp pain wrenched the delicate control of his breathing and a series of cough wrecked his chest. The assailant used the moment to break free and shoved him off.

Blond hair, blue eyes. Strife looked like he barely restrained himself from hitting him.

Another round of coughing hacked his defenses and caused him to double over. Sephiroth climbed to his feet and put a trembling hand against the tree for support. The cough took its sweet time to subside.

When the world refocused before his eyes, his headache finally dulled into pulses that twinged his teeth. Sephiroth took a shaky breath. Headaches were fine. He could handle headaches. Easy to keep his appearance as 'in control'. One year, and he was already used to it by now. He retracted his left hand from his mouth, grimaced, and wiped the red on his pants.

This, though. This was new.

A movement on his back startled him. His fingers clenched on an absent sword, finding a rough bark instead. Strife flipped him over and shoved him against the tree. Bright light butchered his breath and a loud ringing in his ears drowned him in a void. Strife held a blade to his throat, a scowl on his face.

"--a reason why I shouldn't slit your throat." Strife’s voice pierced the bubble and sounds jumped on him like wolves on meat. Sephiroth fisted his hands against the urge to cover his ears. He could think of three ways to dislodge himself from Strife's iron grip, but breaking a man's arm was not how one showed remorse for past deeds.

The cough took the decision from him. Strife released him and watched him struggle for dignity. When he looked up, Strife's eyes glinted with an eerie glow. No Jenova-induced madness in them though. Strife’s tone was solemn when he spoke.

"You're dying, aren't you?"

Sephiroth stifled a sharp intake of breath. He had ditched denial just before he began to destroy the cloning facilities, so to hear it spelled out like that shouldn't be this painful.

Goddess knew what Hojo did to him after the man fished him out from the Nibelheim mako reactor, but there was something very wrong with his brain. Hojo failed to save him; the man just extended his lease on life.

So: check brain and get medical help.

That was the first item in his to do list after leaving Nibelheim and he had crossed it off ages ago. He tried his best, but he simply had no sufficient data to seek proper help. He had no medical records, hypotheses, observation notes, or anything to assist a competent scientist or doctor. He had destroyed everything when he confiscated Nibelheim. There wasn’t a way out of this anymore, and he was running out of time. How much time did he have now, a week?

“Is Aerith right? Was Jenova the one who slaughtered all those people?”

Sephiroth forced out an affirmative, the blood still thick in his throat.

“I’m going to stop her.” His voice cracked.

Strife snorted. “Where have you been, then? Were you hiding all this time because you were _dying_?" Strife let out a harsh laugh. “Was Nibelheim not enough for your bloodlust? Some friend you are. It’s not enough that you betrayed me and burned my village, you had to let Jenova wipe out the rest of the planet too.”

What? Since when did he befriend Strife? They were barely in missions together. His face must have given something because Strife scrunched his nose and scowled.

“Forgot about Nibelheim already? What, are you going to claim you have an amnesia now?”

Something wasn’t right.

“Enlighten me, then. What happened in Nibelheim?”

Strife made a hand gestures that Zack did when he was worked up.

"You disappeared to Shinra Mansion for three days and then burned the village. You wounded Tifa and I fought you."

Sephiroth frowned. "You were an infantryman, how did you fight-"

"I was in SOLDIER."

Ouch. Something clicked then. Strife mimicked Zack’s gestures in a lot of ways and seemed to mess up his memories with Zack’s. The man must have imprinted on Zack during their escape from Nibelheim. This was worse than he expected.

"No. Zack was in SOLDIER."

"He..." Strife stopped and looked confused. "I was there. We took a picture with Tifa."

"You were there as one of the guards. And _Zack_ took a picture with me and her."

"You're lying."

Sephiroth shook his head. "Fine. How did you fight me?"

Strife thinned his lips, but Sephiroth only waited.

"I can't remember."

Sephiroth looked at him. Strife had blank spots in his memories. No wonder Jenova could influence and control the blond with ease.

"You were an infantryman accompanying me and Zack to the village. Zack fought me but lost. You caught me by surprise and stabbed me, I stabbed you, you threw me to the reactor, Hojo saved all of us. He experimented with your body and infused Jenova's cells to your blood. Zack managed to get you out and he was killed while you were on the run, just outside Midgar. It must have shocked you a lot if you assumed his place since then."

Strife had a stricken look on his face. Sephiroth bit back a sigh. A beginning of a back-up plan regarding his Jenova project had formed in his mind since he watched Strife fight, but the man looked like he was an inch from toppling into hysteria. No, having the blond on a breakdown was not an option.

"Look, you've just survived a trauma from the experiments and Zack's death. You're just confused and your mind is trying to cope.” How would it feel to have two sets of memories in one’s head? Would it be any different than being possessed by a sentient being so bent on destruction? Did Strife have difficulties in remembering whether he made some decisions by his own will? “You are your own person, a good one at that. You might need your friend's help to sort out your childhood memories, but you'll find yourself again. You'll be okay."

Self, consider a career change in the next life. Dr. Sephiroth, psychiatrist.

Strife sucked in a breath and snapped up his head. " _I'll be okay_? How can you say that? You..." The man shook his head, his face red, his right arm shook a little. "You killed _my mother_. You burned my village. I have nothing left, not even my memories. Can you comprehend what it's like?"

To lose the freedom to control this body. To be helpless to stop these hands from killing and still be condemned for it. To be stripped of a name, title, wealth, and any relationships he built. To find his home gone and nowhere to turn. To be denied of health and pain free existence.

To accept all that, bear every judgments, and take responsibility for his actions.

The answer was yes. He clenched his hands. Oh, yes.

"I'm sorry." Sephiroth said, quiet. Strife's glare sliced through him. "I can't bring back what I took from you, but I'm trying to clean up my mess."

Strife ground his teeth and his eyes spoke contempt. He should give the man more pep talk than this, but he was pressed for time. "I'm hunting Jenova." Sephiroth inspected Strife's tense and ready stance. Hojo trained him good. What he lacked in skills, he made up for in perseverance. "If I die before I succeed, you're the only one left strong enough to kill her."

Colors crossed Strife's face. The man opened his mouth, thought better of it, and shut it again. The blond looked like he wanted to hit something. Too bad he was too much of a good guy to pick a fight.

Sephiroth squared his shoulder and looked into Strife's eyes. He wished it wouldn't have to come to this, but he had to plan for damage control.

"And if she manages to control me again, I want you to kill me."

Something glinted in Strife's eyes at the prospect, his lips half tugged up. Sephiroth refrained himself from saying anything else, and Strife growled.

"That's it? I'm supposed to do your homework and let you walk free?"

Sephiroth clenched his hands. If there was anyone alive he should ask for forgiveness, it was Strife. But there was no way he could let the man drew blood from him as retribution. He still had unfinished business with Jenova.

Wouldn’t you like to know how it feels like, to be forgiven?

Strife waited for his answer, a hard expression settled on his face.

"I hope we will be friends in the next life." Sephiroth finally said.

Fate must be squealing with delight. With his luck, he would be Strife's _pet_ in the next life.

“Don’t _kid_ me.” Strife’s eyes blazed. “You have _no right_ to keep on living like nothing happened, not paying for your mistakes-”

If he were to pay their life with his, how many times would they have to resurrect him only to kill him again?

“I’ll make sure to kill Jenova for good this time.” Because apparently a simple beheading wasn’t enough to kill her.

Strife shook his head.

"And you think that's enough?"

Do you even deserve forgiveness?

He didn't have an answer for that. Hopefully it would be enough. Sephiroth swallowed to a scorching burn in his throat. Truth was, nothing he could say would appease Strife.

"I hope you won’t survive the fight.”

Sephiroth suppressed a flinch. Strife held his gaze, his voice laced with anger when he spoke.

“I hope it hurts.” The blond said, soft. The now-constant pain in his head roared in agreement and his vision wavered a little. “I hope you die suffering, just like the people you killed that night.”

_Hot liquid feasted on every pore of his skin, burning its way to his lungs_. _Hojo had tried to melt his skin in an experiment once, but this... this just had no end._ Sephiroth clamped his mouth shut and regulated his breathing. His death at Nibelheim’s mako reactor was nothing pretty.

The shrill ring of Strife’s phone jolted the blond. He scowled and took his phone, then narrowed his eyes. With a last glance at him, Strife strode away to take the call.

Sephiroth ignored the sudden need to rub his eyes and scanned for the environment instead. They camped at a riverbank on one of the hills surrounding the shrine. His swords were propped under a tree next to Valentine’s slumped form. The man stirred awake and found his gaze. Sephiroth snatched his swords and nodded at him.

“Did you kill the Weapon?” Valentine’s voice was hoarse.

“Strife did.” Sephiroth sank to his heels on the nearby tree and smothered a wince. The rough bank pinched his spine as he leaned back against it, but he needed the distraction from the raging pain in his head.

Valentine fixed his seating and gritted his teeth. The man looked like he had grappled with a bear and lost, but Strife had cleaned most of his surface wounds. Strife didn’t look any better, but the J-cells regenerative properties must have kicked in. Sephiroth glanced down at his throbbing knee.

“Why are you helping me?”

Valentine shrugged and rummaged through his bag for a bottle of water. “The Turks assigned me to guard your mother.” The black haired man finally said, his voice soft. “She is an important person to me; I see no reason not to help you out.”

Had this man been living under the rocks?

“I razed Nibelheim to ground.” Some people would take it as a strong reason to leave him rot and die.

Red eyes flickered to glance at him.

“So I heard. The town was still standing last time I checked, though.”

Sephiroth snorted. “That’s just Shinra Corporation’s cover up job.”

“I saw your doppelganger with my own eyes and you seemed bent on killing him. I can give you the benefit of the doubt.”

He looked up at that and his breath caught. Did he really mean that? The calm in Valentine’s eyes eased its way into his chest and gently squeezed his heart. Sephiroth cleared his throat.

“ _Her_. I always consider Jenova as a she.” He shook his head. “I failed to kill her. She went to the Lifestream and managed to possess Lucrecia.”

Valentine’s brows creased. “I thought you said Jenova just shape-shifts to Lucrecia’s image?”

_You will live your short and pitiful existence knowing you brought this on her_.

Sephiroth swallowed a bitter taste in his tongue. “She did, but she lost a lot of power when she submerged into the Lifestream. She popped out at Lucrecia’s cave and took her as a vessel.” He squinted at the black haired man. “Did you know she was trapped in a pile of crystals in that cave?”

Valentine’s face paled.

“She wasn’t--” The man stopped short and ground his jaws. “I visited her just recently. She was still alive then, and she was free.”

“I couldn’t check her life stats with the crystals thick around her, but if Jenova possesses her, then she must be still alive, just frozen in static.” Sephiroth sucked a breath in. “Why does she live in that cave? What happened to her? If you are her... friend, why weren’t you there to help her?”

Valentine brought his hands up and rubbed his face.

“I disagreed with the experiments done to her because it was making her ill. Hojo thought it earned me a shot in the chest.” The man’s voice was rough. “He experimented on my half-dead body and discarded me when I couldn’t regain consciousness. I should have died, but Lucrecia saved me.”

Hojo and Lucrecia experimented on him? Was that why the man was about to transform when faced with a severe wound? Did Valentine even know about it?

“When I woke up she was gone.” Valentine’s eyes unfocused. “I don’t know what happened to Lucrecia. I...” He struggled to continue. “I have sinned against her, so I spent the last thirty years in a coffin. Cloud woke me up and I joined him in hope to run into Hojo someday.”

Sephiroth shook his head.

“I killed him.”

"I beg your pardon?"

His lips curled up. A snap to the neck, a thorough cremation, a quick dump of the ashes to the sewer. On hindsight, maybe he shouldn't hand _Hojo_ a merciful death.

"I killed Hojo the night I broke out from Nibelheim."

Valentine tensed, but then his face cleared.

“I see.”

“What did she say, when you visited her?”

“She suffered visions of you destroying the world.” Valentine’s expression tightened and his voice wavered. “She felt guilty; she told me she wants to die.”

She _what_? Sephiroth couldn’t help raising his voice.

“And you left her there?”

“You don’t understand. She asked to be left alone. I would have stayed, but she said she doesn’t want to be with anyone anymore.”

Sephiroth shut his mouth and resisted his initial reaction. Valentine looked like the type who would jump off of a cliff if his object of affection said so. The man was a decent guy and he disliked having to do this, but if he somehow could save Lucrecia and had to leave her under someone’s care, then the man needed to grow a spine.

“How selfish of you.” Sephiroth arched his chin, voice hard. “Lucrecia saved your life, but you repaid her kindness by disappearing on her when she needed you the most.”

Valentine’s eyes blazed at that.

“Don’t start preaching me when you spend your whole life drowned in ignorance of her existence.”

He was told his birth mother was dead. What was he supposed to do, dig up her grave?

“I am at fault for that, but now that I’ve found out that she is alive, I am trying to make amends. While you...” He sneered. “Do you even try?”

Valentine growled and fisted his hands.

“You said she was ill from the experiments. You woke up to find her gone. You knew Hojo could do whatever he wished on the experiment subjects. They might have taken her away and imprisoned her. You said you hate to see her in pain, yet has it occurred to you to find her and offer your help?” Valentine looked like he restrained himself from commenting. Good. Let the man think. “You said you have sinned against her. Has it occurred to you that you could choose to atone by staying by her side? To nurture as well as protect her?”

Valentine didn’t answer him.

“She could object and make it difficult for you. It might kill you a little every time you look into her eyes and find her tears, but it _is_ your atonement afterall. It _is_ a sacrifice on your side, it is not supposed to be easy.” Sephiroth paused and gauged Valentine’s reaction. Just a bit more. “Have you ever thought that maybe she cries not because your presence _hurt_ her, but because she is overwhelmingly _grateful_ that someone still choose to be with her through the bad times?”

Valentine shook his head, but Sephiroth wasn’t done yet.

“You said she doesn’t _want_ to be with anyone, but have you thought of what she _needs_? You said she is suicidal yet you left her on her own, isolated from the rest of the world, powerless against a threat, and most likely _still in pain_. Does it please you now when she suffers as much as you do?"

"Stop."

"Do you care about her at all? Are you trying to punish her because she chose Hojo over you-"

Valentine punched him hard. Sephiroth didn't wait until the sharp pain stop and punched the man back. They scuffled a bit before Sephiroth managed to kick the man off of him. Valentine sprawled back and rolled one last kick, hitting his bad knee. Sephiroth breathed hard against the searing pain and glared at the man who flopped on his back with his hands on his face, looking torn between keeping his composure and breaking into hysterical laugh.

He could relate to that.

Sephiroth sat and rested his head against the tree, listening to various aches in his body. Morning sky looked down on him; gray clouds frowned at his stare. Last day of the year, and still a long way to go. He tugged a handful of grass and suppressed a sigh.

"Are you done yet?" Valentine’s tone was resigned. The man’s relationship with Lucrecia was none of his business, but he had used it to push the favor on his side. The fact that he had to do that to the only person who learned his mistakes yet still gave him a chance to do right... Sephiroth tightened his grip.

"Are you going to leave her again?"

Valentine went quiet for a while.

"I made a mistake. If there is another chance to atone... then yes, I will stay by her side."

Good. Now he could die in peace. Sephiroth swallowed the painful twinge in his chest.

Miles and miles before he could go to sleep, though. He couldn’t kill Jenova if it meant killing Lucrecia. He hadn’t figured out how to kill Jenova and save Lucrecia yet.

Strife chose the moment to show up. His eyes lit up a bit when he saw Valentine awake.

“Are you okay?”

Valentine nodded. “Did you find anything at the Crater?”

Strife’s face darkened. “No.” The blond threw a sharp glance at him. “ _Jenova_ told me to go north for a reunion, but there was nothing there.”

Good gaia. Strife needed to upgrade his intelligence a bit. Hadn’t he learned that hearing voices in his head was not normal? As long as he couldn’t control himself, he shouldn’t march to wherever Jenova was hosting a welcome party.

“Aerith just revived from her meditation and called me, though. She insisted that Jenova is in the Northern Crater.”

But how did Strife escape Jenova’s mind control, precisely?

“Maybe Jenova just got there after you left?” Valentine said.

Valentine. Sephiroth shifted in his place. The man had kicked Strife to the pool below the altar. That had shocked Jenova and allowed him to kill her clone. Was it when her connection with Strife broke? What was in the pool then? He took a shaky breath. Would it be able to break Jenova’s possession of Lucrecia too?

Strife shook his head. “I don’t know. We should get to her as soon as possible.” The blond challenged him with a defiant gaze. Sephiroth met it heads on.

“The planet left her a message to you.”

With that, Strife turned back and proceeded to leave. Valentine didn’t say anything, just stood up and followed suit. Sephiroth braced himself and hauled himself to his feet. He grimaced at the pulsing pain in his stiff knee, but kept himself quiet as he followed Valentine’s lead.

“How far are we from the shrine?” He asked Valentine.

“About an hour long trek.”

Sephiroth stared at him.

“I was trying to secure you from the Turks’s perimeter sweep. I heard their jeep when I found you at the clearing. I would have gone back to check whether they had left the shrine, but then the Weapon came heading your way.”

Of course. Sephiroth jammed a sigh in his throat and took a tentative walk, breathed through the flickers of pain.

_Don’t worry, mother_. He concentrated on putting one step ahead at a time.

_I am going to save you if that’s the last thing I do_.


	4. Chapter 4

Short puffs of breath blew into cold air in front of him. Sephiroth ground his teeth against the shivers that crept on his muscles, making it harder to brace against the tree on his side. Heat flashed on and off inside his head, crashing his equilibrium and threatening to burst out. It was a good thing they had arrived at the shrine before his vision bailed out on him. Sephiroth took a shaky breath. A few minutes should be enough for him to recover a bit. Now if only Strife would just lower his voice.

“But they took Tifa! I bet Rufus is going to blame her and Barrett for summoning the Meteor. He’s going to execute them in public, Aerith!” 

Gainsborough didn’t budge from her place in front of Tseng and reached for Strife’s outstretched sword instead, guiding the blond to lower his weapon. 

“I know, Cloud, but Tseng defended me and offered to guard me when I insisted I need to stay here to work on Holy. It’s not his fault-” 

A rumble from afar caught their attention. Now what? Sephiroth pulled out his sword and narrowed his eyes at the direction the noise came from. The ground trembled. The shrine’s foundation rattled and the bells on the gates swung wild. The loud rings grated on his ears and Sephiroth bit back a groan. 

“That must be one of the Weapons.” Tseng touched Gainsborough’s arm lightly and she finally stepped out of his way. “The Weapon from Rocket Town passed the east continent one hour ago and is headed this way. One of them even stopped its attack on the mako reactor at Midgar and flew north.”

Great, just what they needed. Sephiroth and Strife, the Weapon magnets. If his head wasn't about to go supernova he would have laughed along with Fate. The pain in his head spiked to new heights and he blinked a few times to clear his vision. Strife was glaring at him, but Sephiroth refused to believe that the blond had developed psychic powers to read his mind.

“If they want to destroy Jenova, shouldn’t we let them do their job?” Valentine ventured his opinion.

The earth shook again and Gainsborough grimaced. “Jenova is under a barrier at Northern Crater and they can’t sense her yet. They will swarm here before anyone can get there to break the barrier.” 

“They will destroy this place.” Tseng said to Gainsborough. “I’ll ask Rufus to send backup, but you have to follow me to our safe house a few towns back.”

Gainsborough shook her head and turned to Sephiroth. 

“Just a moment. I need to talk to you.”

Sephiroth nodded and sheathed his sword. Predictably, the blade of Strife’s broadsword flicked to his direction as a response to his movement, held ready for use. The man looked like he wanted to protest, but Gainsborough gave him a warning glance and the blond yielded after giving a scowl. Strife didn’t let them out of his sight, though.

"Thank you for saving my life." Gainsborough said when they reached the altar. The clear pool reflected swirling lines of light, soothing his eyes a bit. Sephiroth wrenched his gaze from the calm water and nodded at her. She was tilting her head heavenward, her lips set in a thin line. A looming black spot hovered in the sky. 

How many hours did they have before Meteor hit?

"There is a way to protect the planet from Meteor, a strong power that comes from Gaia itself. I was summoning Holy when Jenova tried to kill me." She said, her voice soft. "It should have worked, but Jenova is suppressing the spell. When she dies, the restraint on Holy's power would be broken."

She found his gaze and the light in her eyes shimmered. There was no judgment in her stare, no ill wish on him. So here was another person who saw through his past and accepted him for who he was. Sephiroth swallowed and treasured the warmth brushing his skin.

Did he have any chance afterall?

“The Lifestream said you are going to save the planet.” 

Well. Sephiroth cleared his throat. That was quite an ambitious assumption, so he corrected her.

“ _Strife_ is going to kill the Weapons. _You_ are going to release Holy. I am going to kill Jenova.” 

Someone else was going to have to do something about world peace.

Gainsborough’s lips curled up into a small smile. Was she teasing him?

“The planet wants me to give you these.” Gainsborough handed him two materia. He frowned and inspected the black materia. Was this the black materia Jenova used to call Meteor?

“It rolled from the body of Jenova’s clone at the shrine. When slotted into a sword, it will fuse its magic into the blade." She explained. "It will erase its victim from existence.”

Sephiroth spared a glance at her and raised his eyebrows. That sounded ominous. When she didn't elaborate, Sephiroth rolled the other materia on his palm.

“I used the white materia to summon Holy. Jenova failed to pierce it; it dropped to the pool when you shoved me away from her sword." She watched him then, her eyes questioning. As if she was puzzled why the planet thought he would need it. "Its magic in the blade will purify. The sword will slice, but it cannot kill. It’s not used to hurt the victims; it’s used to heal them." 

Oh. Sephiroth clenched the materia, its surface was smooth on his hand. A spell to purify. A means to end Jenova's possession of Lucrecia. So was this his reward for purging the cursed alien from the planet? The materia didn't answer him, but maybe this was given as a token for Gaia’s blessing. That the planet had heard him and decided to grant his wish. 

He couldn't quite clear the tightness in his voice when he said his gratitude.

"Both of their powers will be activated once you deliver a fatal blow.” Gainsborough finally continued when he offered no explanation. "You only have one chance. The materia will break after that."

Sephiroth nodded and put the materia to his pouch. That was fine with him. He glanced north, where sunlight peeked from the horizon of greys. Strife would have to stay here and prevent the Weapons from getting on his way. If he took off now he would reach Northern Crater just before sunset. He grasped Lucrecia's pendant close.

"May I ask where you got the crystal?"

Gainsborough's quiet voice brought him back. Sephiroth looked at the pendant and released his grip.

"It's a parting gift from my mother."

Surprise crossed Gainsborough's eyes, but then her gaze softened.

"A wise choice."

Sephiroth glanced at her. 

"Do you know what the inscription said?"

A smile warmed up her face. "It's an ancient word used in the Cetra's prayers. The short literal translation is _to live_." Her hand paused when she reached for the pendant, asking for permission. He gave his consent and she traced the symbol with her thumb. "It means more, though. It is read as in, _live your life to the fullest_. ‘May you lead a happy and fulfilling life’."

She let go of the pendant and showed him how to pronounce the word. "It's also a word of the spell to protect, which requires a payment in the form of the caster's life force. The more you give, the stronger the spell. My mother said the Cetra warriors sacrificed themselves when they used the spell to protect people from a massive destructive spell Jenova released at their last fight." 

A spell to protect him from Jenova. Did Lucrecia sacrifice her life to give him this? Sephiroth looked away, his throat constricted. 

A light earthquake splinted the platform they were standing on and snapped a small cry from Gainsborough. Sephiroth held her steady. When it stopped, both Tseng and Valentine jogged to his side. Gainsborough took Tseng's offered hand and jumped down the altar, before heading off to Strife.

“Cloud said you're off to kill Jenova." Valentine looked up, his red eyes glinting hard. "I will come with you.”

Sephiroth shook his head. They didn’t know how many Weapons were coming and Strife would need all the help he could get. Besides, Jenova would exploit any weaknesses and fight dirty. If Valentine came with him, his attachment to Lucrecia would only hinder them. 

“No, you should help Strife defeating the Weapons." 

Valentine was about to argue, so Sephiroth cut him off. "I will save her from Jenova." He gave his best assuring tone. "You can catch up with us later.”

Valentine clenched his jaws, but didn't say anything else. Sephiroth set off to fetch his bike.

“Sephiroth.” 

Something in the man’s tone stopped him. He turned to look at Valentine properly. The coldness in Valentine’s stare had abated, leaving only flickers of something he could not name.

"Lucrecia saved me when I thought I was beyond saving." Valentine’s voice was strained. 

How would it feel like, to have someone who strives on when others have given up hope? Sephiroth rubbed the twinge on his chest, the pendant cold against his skin. 

The man cleared his throat. "Just don't die on her yet."

His head protested at the sharp movement when he looked up. The world swayed around him, but Valentine held his gaze steady. Did he know? Did Valentine listen to his conversation with Strife earlier? Sephiroth fisted the pendant. Lucrecia was familiar with Hojo's work. If he could just survive the fight against Jenova, then maybe... 

Maybe...

Sephiroth struggled for a breath at the thought. Valentine only let out a thin smile and nodded. 

_Hang on, because she will save you too_.

Sephiroth finally nodded back and then turned to go. This time Valentine didn’t stop him, but he could hear the man's whisper as he left.

“Be safe.”

He parked his bike and walked ahead. The afternoon sun reflected off of a massive barrier on the crater, a giant dome among the white snow. Sephiroth weighed the two brimming swords in his hands and swung the one in his left hand. Black electricity exploded at the point of contact and traveled across the dome's surface. The barrier shook and popped out with a snap.

"Didn’t your mother tell you that it's impolite to barge in to someone’s house without knocking?"

A feminine soft voice echoed in the crater. Jenova walked towards him, Masamune on her hand. Lucrecia’s face worked into a welcoming expression, her gaze lit into lively sparks. None of it was within her control, though. And the thought that he had allowed Jenova to use her like she did him... his stomach recoiled. Sephiroth didn’t bother to entertain her with words and took the first move to attack. 

“Not in a talkative mood, are we?” Jenova only laughed. "Fine, then let me tell you a story."

He blocked her hits and parried.

"Once upon a time there was this beautiful princess. The queen died giving birth to her, so she grew up lonely. She vowed that when the time comes, she would be there for her child. Unfortunately the healer told her she was infertile.”

Jenova threw him off and changed her stance. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes; the neutral footwork made it hard to read her intent. One thing was for sure, though. She was about to perform a fast attack. Jenova caught his gaze and smirked.

"One day, a prince from a faraway kingdom came and proposed to her. There was very advanced magic in his kingdom. He would be able to give her a child, but she would have to do as he said. She agreed and they were married.”

Masamune launched and zeroed on him. The first strike shoved him back a couple steps and jarred his right arm to the bone. 

Ow. Make that a _very_ fast attack.

Sephiroth tightened the grip on his swords and fended off the hits, Jenova’s movements blurred around him. 

"They performed the spells on her, and inside her body, a life formed. The magic hurt her so much, and at times she wished for death, but she held on. She kept on going and living through the pain, because one day she would hold her dear son and he would smile in her embrace.” Jenova pushed hard and threw him a sneer. “And for his smile, she would survive.”

Jenova pierced his defense and Masamune sliced the air just inches from his ear. Sephiroth already ducked and rolled down with the momentum, shifting his grip to stab backwards. Jenova snorted and jumped away, then hacked his next attack. She was gaining more speed, and he began to lose track of her position. Fortunately for him, she was still inclined to continue her evil monologue. 

“The time came, and the labor left her on her death bed. She was half awake when they held her baby near her. He was crying, his little hands reaching out for the familiar warmth. Wide eyes, silver hair, _so bright_. She passed out before she could reach back for him.”

A cracking sound echoed on the crater’s walls as her kick to his bad knee folded him forward. He was too breathless from compensating her moves to let out a scream. Jenova kicked his left wrist and his sword clattered on the ground. His vision whitened as he dodged another kick and roused to his feet. His ears were ringing and he swayed; his right sword blocked Jenova’s blows in a futile attempt to restore his defense. 

“They told her he died moments after she passed out. She grieved and chose to exile herself to a cave, where the goddess offered her visions of her son. In those visions her son is alive. A witch had told the son that his mother’s kingdom offered her as a sacrifice to his father’s kingdom, and that they had abused her ever since. That turned him into a wicked warrior who vows to have revenge, slaying and burning all of villages he sets feet to.”

His knee was on fire and he couldn’t pivot fast enough to duck her punch to his stomach. What little air remained in his lungs left him in a whoosh. Then Masamune’s hilt rammed on his head. Pain snatched the ground from his feet and he couldn't block some of Jenova’s rain of hits and kicks. He must have lost his grip on his other sword sometime after that. 

Jenova paused to inspect her work. The world sharpened in crystal agony when she stepped on his broken knee. 

“Then a hunting party from her kingdom arrived at the princess’s cave. She soon realized that her son was alive after all, that her visions were real. She was overwhelmed with sorrow and guilt, and begged the goddess to help her son. The goddess agreed to her deal.”

Jenova let go and the beginning of a seizure raked on his skin. No. No. Sephiroth gathered his wits and tried to slow his breathing, but just like he had no control back then when he was relatively uninjured, now wounded and in pain he was helpless against the seizure’s onslaught.

He was half curled on the ground when Jenova grabbed a fistful of hair on his head and yanked him forward. Shocks exploded along his spine and the last thing he heard before the world faded out on him was Jenova’s low growl.

“Weak. The whole lot of you.”

Awareness came to him like a kitten licking on meat. Its sharp teeth grazed sandpaper on his skin, a promise of more to come. The first thing he registered was that every inch of his body _burned_. Hot pain clamped on his muscles, small twitches of movements propagated agony everywhere. The ground was a stark frozen ice against his body. From the way his lungs struggled for air, he probably had bruised ribs. Sephiroth opened his eyes to a dark sky. 

“Don’t worry. You’re not in hell yet.”

Smooth voice from his right. Lucrecia’s face made a blur appearance above him. Sephiroth tensed, but his battered body refused to move. 

“Stripping you and carving my name on the sweet flesh would be marvelous, but then hypothermia will probably numb you before any fun could really begin.”

She tsked and a long flash of light hovered on his vision. She seemed to get a kick out of hearing his bones crack, because she stomped on his bruised ribs. At the same time, the familiar swish of sleek metal cutting air rushed to his side. Blood muffled out his scream and white pain jolted his body as Masamune embedded itself in his arm.

“On the other hand, your _mother_ has an impressive array of knowledge on how to dissect a human body and satisfy the pain receptors without killing the subject. No wonder your father approved of her.” She chuckled. “I can’t decide which is more delightful; watching you writhe under my mercy or listening to her cries.” 

Jenova pulled Masamune and knelt on one knee next to him. Sephiroth managed to curl on his side when painful coughs wrecked his lungs. This close he could faintly see Jenova run two fingers on the blade and collect what little blood was left on it. He spat out a chunk of blood and she laughed a little. From this angle he couldn’t see her face, but she didn’t try to cover the sounds when she licked and sucked her fingers.

“Delicious.”

His throat constricted convulsively, and he had to take a controlled breath before he could try to speak again.

“What...” He shuddered as he suppressed a cough. “What deal did my mother make with the goddess?”

His swords were just two feet away. A carefully executed offense on his last reserve of adrenalin could work, but he had to be precise and fast. He needed to distract her first and buy some time before he could lunge to fetch the swords.

"Hm. Curious, that." There was a rustling sound as she stood and twisted his left hand backwards. Her high heels dug onto his spine to pin him down. Black spots blotted his vision and his chest screamed on him. A quick snap dislocated his thumb, shooting fresh pain to his spine.

"She doesn't know exactly what she traded her life for." Jenova dislocated another finger. "Is it for a magical weapon? A power boost? Enhanced healing rate? Higher endurance for pain? Anything is acceptable, just as long as you are safe.” 

She snorted. “Such blind faith."

He struggled as she worked on the rest of his fingers, but he couldn't get enough leverage to escape. 

"Maybe she sold her soul for your immortality." She snickered as she let go of his hand and kicked the back of his head. "Now there's a thought. If I kill you now, would you revive later? An everlasting plaything. Who knows, maybe you'll break sometime in the next century and then I can order you to do all the legworks as we course the universe, destroying one planet after the other."

His throat was too clogged to curse at her, so he settled on glaring instead. 

"Oh, look. Dearest mother is lashing at me. She's begging me to leave you alone, to hurt her instead." She smirked and kicked his stomach. He curled up and had just enough time to reset three of his fingers. "The only person who prayed for you even after knowing the horrors you committed. Your whole existence is nothing but eternal suffering for her, but still, she's trying to protect you. She even already prepared a technical checklist to cure and restore you to good health, if only I would restrain myself from damaging you." She shook her head. "Your species' stupidity astounds me sometimes."

Jenova yanked on his hair again, dragged him to his right. The bumps and jostles on his body nearly blacked him out. He gritted his teeth and steeled himself. Just a few more moments...

"What do you think, Sephiroth? You, who couldn't even save your own mother. Are you worth her sacrifice?"

Sephiroth took a couple quick breaths and snagged her arm. Her high heels gritted on the pebbles as she slipped and lost her balance. He slammed his elbow on her head as she fell. She hit the ground with a crack. Sephiroth snatched the swords and stabbed the white sword in his right hand to her throat.

Jenova buckled and managed to knock him off her, then yanked the blade and hurled it away. The wet squelch of her flesh rang loud in his ears and Sephiroth flinched. For a moment his heart contracted painfully. Did it work? She swayed to her knees, hands red with blood.

Then her eyes bulged and Jenova screamed. High pitch sound waves shook the crater's walls and burst into his ears. Sephiroth clamped his hands on them, felt the slick liquid crept onto his arms. Light sealed the gaping wound on Jenova's throat and her body convulsed. More light poured out from her mouth, ears, and every pore of her body. Sephiroth wrenched his eyes shut as the light exploded around her.

When he looked up, his ears were still ringing. His vision was still blurry, if not worsened. Jenova was in her true form, resembling the statue Shinra kept in the lab. Lucrecia was slumped on the ground, her body brimming with light. Jenova reached for Lucrecia's body and recoiled when she touched her. Sephiroth charged at Jenova with the black sword in his left hand. Jenova fished for Masamune and blocked him on time.

Neither of them was up for round two, but Jenova had more appendages which she exploited to their fullest. The first lash of her sharp tentacle whipped his back raw, sent him sprawling forward. Pain seared his body and Sephiroth fought a strong urge to curl. He grabbed the discarded white sword instead. The light on the blade had dulled from the spent magic. It stood strong against the lashes though, so Sephiroth forced himself up and resumed their dance.

He quickly found that penetrating Jenova's defense with those razor sharp whips swarming on him was impossible. But she must have been injured severely, because her attack was driven by her rage and he could read her movements like a guidebook on Swordsmanship 101.

Jenova had a weak point he should bust. The only problem was that he only had one chance before he dropped from the pain. Sephiroth licked his lips and braced himself. The swirling pattern of her attack parted and he jumped, sword raised high.

At the moment a movement from Lucrecia's direction entered his peripheral vision. She might be invincible to Jenova's touch, but she wouldn't stand a chance against Masamune. Jenova snarled and already changed her reach, her weak point shifted drastically as she thrust Masamune to Lucrecia's chest.

Sephiroth grimaced and did the only thing he could.

He twisted to kick Jenova's left shoulder. His ribs gritted against themselves and yanked on his balance. Three sharp razors whipped his right side and slapped him sideways, knocking off the sword in his right hand. Jenova roared and rammed Masamune down his stomach. Sephiroth grasped at Masamune's blade and pushed forward, impaling himself deeper. 

Jenova jerked in surprise.

He sneered in her face and thrust the sword in his left hand to her heart.

Pain coiled a tight rope around his neck and pulled hard. It wailed and crushed him into darkness before Jenova could scream.

Hard wind rushed to his face and blinded him. Its strong current barked a persistent loud swooshing sound to his ears. Agony had merged with his existence, stretched out and without an end in sight. From the look of things, Fate would grant Strife's wish and rewind his death at Nibelheim.

At least this time Jenova died with him, permanently.

A soft touch to his face ground him back. Someone cradled him close and grasped his hand. 

_Mother_?

She fixed his position on her lap and Sephiroth winced. The rumbling vibration said she was talking to him, but he couldn't hear any of it. He tried to swallow and clear his throat to speak, but the movement jolted new pain to his stomach. She tightened her grip on his ribs and white stars clouded his vision. He grasped her hand in a wordless plea. 

She loosened her grip and his vision cleared a bit. The shape of her body floated in contrast to the bright sky. He frowned. Was it sunrise already? The hair on his skin stood up; his instinct told him to shrink under a cover or bolt the place immediately.

_When she dies, the restraint on Holy’s power would be broken_.

Tremors crept on the ground. The icy whirlwind picked up on speed and the pressure jammed the air with static. Sephiroth wheezed for air to keep himself from passing out; his body throbbed with pain. 

The planet would pull on its reserves to release Holy and they were on ground zero. He swallowed with difficulty. The magical backlash would fry them to death very soon and there was no way he could haul his mother out of here before it happened.

Lucrecia was oblivious to his dread and kept talking, her body pressed on something cool against his chest. The crystal pendant.

Oh. So that was why Fate paused on its way to deliver him to his death.

Sephiroth raised his right hand and smothered a pained gasp that followed. He tapped on his ear and brought his hand to point to his mouth, forming a sign language.

“ _I'm deaf. I can't hear you_.”

A pause, then her body shook. Droplets of water fell on his face. He gritted his teeth as he raised his trembling hand to wipe away the tears on her face. The effort taxed him and his hand dropped sooner than he'd like. He fisted his hand to form an A gesture, then rotated it on his chest twice.

“ _I'm sorry_.”

It felt inadequate to him, but no words would be enough to express the suffocating clench in his heart. Sorry that his birth had brought her pain. Sorry that he wasn't fast enough to pick up the hints and realize that she was still alive. Sorry his actions at Nibelheim sent her nightmares. Sorry he was stupid enough to fall for Jenova's mind games. Sorry he couldn't get to her sooner. Sorry that she had to trade her life for his safety. Sorry that Jenova tortured her just because the alien hated his guts.

_Are you worth her sacrifice?_

Lucrecia tugged his left hand and uncurled his grasp. She ran the tip of her fingers to his palm twice and gently touched his chest.

“ _I forgive you._ ”

Sephiroth sucked in a breath. Heat crawled to his face and he bit his lower lip hard to keep himself under control. One wrong move and the chain of coughs would press on his ribs and render him useless. 

How would it feel like, to be forgiven?

He grasped her hand to borrow strength and she grasped his hand on return. The air was now tinted with ozone, rays of light sparkled in his vision.

Maybe, just maybe, Fate would grant him mercy and allow him to live. Maybe he would survive this night and Lucrecia would nurture him back to health. Maybe then he could start a new lease on life and find peace.

But whatever final card Fate would deal him with, there was one thing he would make sure.

He dislodged his hands from her hold and fisted an A, then brought them in one smooth gesture from his hip to his chest.

“ _Live_.”

Lucrecia broke into sobs that racked through his body. He ignored the pain and grabbed the pendant.

_Mother_... 

Too many things left unsaid. 

His magic shied from his command, pulled away by the call of the planet. 

_I just want you to know_...

He pulled them back in a hard won wrestle. Hurt dipped and seeped into his bones as the pendant started to flash hot in his hand.

_... how happy I am to have met you_.

The spell from Holy lit the sky ablaze. The ancient rune on the pendant flared alive under his magic and layered them in a cocoon of light. It burned through his life force and plunged him into white agony, but that was a small price in exchange for her life.

So bright.... Sephiroth gasped for air that would not come. The Lifestream painted a mirage in his vision, ready to take him back.

He reached out and Lucrecia twined her hand with his. 

_Live._

Lucrecia’s grip was steady, anchoring him to her side, telling him not to let go. 

_Live and live on_.

Sephiroth let out a smile as the world burst into brilliant light.


End file.
